Full replacements

After: Holland Park modular roof

When the roof really does need to be completely redone, the root cause is usually the amount or quality of substrate that was used.

In very thin roofs, its just not possible to grow very much, so a first step is assessing whether the structure is strong enough to add more weight, and thereby enable enough to grow a wider variety of plants viably.

Private home – Holland Park, London

After: Holland Park modular roof

Before: Holland Park modular roof

Commercial – Infinity Foods

After: Infinity Foods (Brighton)

Before: Infinity Foods (Brighton)

Most roofs can usually add a little more – which can be ascertained by a structural engineer where necessary – but even where not, we have a lightweight alternative to thin sedum called HayBase (which replaces a lot of the heavy growing medium with lightweight agricultural waste), a method that has been practiced in Switzerland (where founder Lee Evans began his professional career in the field).

When undertaking a full replacement its often possible to reuse and retain some of the components that were used before. And because we’re interested in moving towards being a circular economy certified business, as well as the fact it saves you money – we’ll always try to wherever we can.

We had a slightly challenging roof which was under a large canopy with no sun or rain. The home owner had previously tried to install a sedum roof, which had simply disappeared. With Organic Roofs' help, we proposed a different planting solution with shade-loving ground cover. The result speaks for itself.Maitanne Hunt | Garden & Landscape Design